Senate Republicans head to the White House in a show of unity as the shutdown enters its fourth week

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, Senate Republicans head to the White House on Tuesday — not for urgent talks on how to end it but to show unity with President Donald Trump as they refuse to negotiate any Democratic demands.

Senate Democrats are also confident in their strategy to continue voting against a House-passed bill that would reopen the government until Republicans, including Trump, get them on board to extend health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year.

Read more: Health care subsidies are at the heart of the lockdown fight. Here who loses if it expires

With no signs of movement from either side, it’s unclear how long the stalemate will last — even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers lose another paycheck in the coming days and states issue warnings that key federal programs will soon expire entirely. The lunch meeting in the Rose Garden of the White House seems unlikely, for now, to lead to a bipartisan resolution, as Senate Republicans are involved in the matter and Trump is following their lead.

Asked what message would be sent during the lunch, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the second-in-command of the Senate GOP, told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday it would be: “Republicans are united, and I expect the president to say, ‘Stand strong.’

Senate Republican Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, said Monday that he believes Trump is ready to “engage in having a discussion” about extending benefits. He added, “But I don’t think they’re ready to do that until (the Democrats) open the government.”

Missing paychecks and programs running out of money

While Capitol Hill remains at a standstill, the effects of the shutdown are worsening.

Federal workers are set to lose additional pay amid complete uncertainty about when they might finally get paid. Government services, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and Head Start preschool programs that serve families in need, face potential funding cuts. The National Nuclear Security Administration will furlough 1,400 federal workers, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday. The Federal Aviation Administration reported air traffic controller shortages and flight delays in cities across the United States.

As the shutdown keeps future health costs in limbo for millions of Americans, most U.S. adults worry that health care will become more expensive, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, as they make decisions about health coverage in the coming year.

However, there was little urgency in Washington, as each side believed the other would eventually capitulate.

“Our position remains the same: We want to end the shutdown as quickly as possible and fix the looming ACA premium crisis for more than 20 million hardworking Americans,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday, referring to expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire in December.

Schumer called the White House meeting a “pep rally” and said it was “shameful” that House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Los Angeles, kept the chamber out of town during the shutdown.

Deadlines are November

Members of both parties acknowledge that as the shutdown continues, it becomes less likely every day that Congress will be able to extend relief or fund the government through the regular appropriations process. The House GOP bill that Senate Democrats rejected 11 times would only keep the government open until Nov. 21.

He watches: Federal workers describe how the shutdown changed their jobs and daily lives

Thune hinted Monday that Republicans might propose a longer extension of current funding rather than passing individual spending bills if the shutdown doesn’t end soon. He said Congress would need to approve an extension beyond Nov. 21, “if not on a longer-term basis.”

Democrats are focusing on Nov. 1, when next year’s enrollment period for ACA coverage begins and millions of people will sign up for their coverage without the expanded subsidy assistance that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once these sign-ups begin, they say, it will be much harder to regain support even if there is a bipartisan compromise.

“Americans will very soon have to make some really tough choices about which health care plan they choose for next year,” Schumer said.

What about Trump?

Tuesday’s White House meeting will be an opportunity for Republican senators to interact with the president about the shutdown after he became more involved in foreign policy and other issues.

Last week, the president dismissed Democrats’ demands as “crazy,” adding: “We’re not going to do that.”

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said Republican senators will talk about strategy with the president during a lunch on Tuesday. “Obviously we’ll talk to him about it, and he’ll give us his ideas, and we’ll talk about ours,” Hoeven said. “We can do anything to try to convince Democrats to join us” and pass the Republican bill to reopen the government, Hoeven said.

However, GOP lawmakers expect Trump to stay in line with their current position of rejecting negotiations until the government is open.

“Until they put something reasonable on the table to talk about, I don’t think there’s anything to talk about,” Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said.

Democrats say Trump must be more involved so the government can reopen.

“He needs to get off the sidelines, off the golf course,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “We know that Republicans in the House and Senate don’t do anything without permission from their president, Donald J. Trump.”

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves and Matt Brown contributed to this report.